Victory Day of Azerbaijan celebrated
Zubair Qureshi
The Azerbaijani government has allocated nearly $3 billion for the reconstruction and restoration activities in the areas liberated from the Armenian occupation two years ago.
Ambassador of Azerbaijan Khazar Farhadov expressed these views while addressing the Victory Day reception hosted by the Azerbaijan Embassy at Serena Hotel.
Federal Minister for Defence Khawaja Muhammad Asif was the Chief Guest on the occasion while ambassadors, parliamentarians, diplomats, senior officials of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and notable figures of the town attended the reception and greeted Ambassador Khazar Farhadov and Mrs Tarana Farhadova on the occasion.
The reception was also attended by the defence and military attaches, in-service and retired officers of the armed forces of Pakistan.
They congratulated Azerbaijan’s ambassador Khazar Farhadov, Defence Attache Colonel Mehman Novruzov and other senior officials of the country on victory against the Armenian aggressors.
Defence Minister Khawaja Asif while congratulating Ambassador Khazar Farhadov said Pakistan and Azerbaijan enjoyed close brotherly relations and both the countries supported each other’s principled positions on Kashmir and Nagorno-Karabakh.
People as well as the governments of the two countries have great respect and regard for each other and share similar culture, traditions and values, he said.
The ambassador while thanking the guests for gracing the event said the reconstruction and restoration activities were in top gear in the liberated areas and the first batch of the Azerbaijani Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) has already returned to liberated Zangilan region’s Aghali village, which was rebuilt based on the “smart village” concept.
Besides, two international airports namely Fuzuli and Zangilan have been completed and made functional within a very short period of time, said Ambassador Khazar.
The ambassador was all praise for the support extended by Pakistan from the first day of the former Karabakh conflict.
Not only during the conflict but in the Patriotic War in 2020 Pakistan supported Afghanistan’s just position morally and politically which has been highly appreciated by the government and people of Azerbaijan, he said.
The Ambassador said 8 November marked Victory Day in the Republic of Azerbaijan every year. He briefed about the Armenian aggression “that had kept Azerbaijani territories under illegal occupation for almost three decades.”
Despite the decisions and resolutions of the leading international institutions, Armenia ignored all these decisions and resolutions and continued to illegally occupy almost 20 percent of our territory, the ambassador said adding in the times of occupation more than 1 million Azerbaijanis became refugees and IDPs. Our people also became the subject of ethnic cleansing, he said.
Finally, two years ago in 2020 under the leadership of the Supreme Commander-in-Chief of the Azerbaijani Armed Forces, President Ilham Aliyev, the Azerbaijan army liberated the country’s territories from Armenian clutches and Armenia was forced to sign an act of capitulation, thus acknowledging Azerbaijan’s historic victory, he said.
Azerbaijan ensured its territorial integrity, and the fundamental rights of nearly one million displaced Azerbaijanis were restored.
About the atrocities committed by the occupying Armenian forces, he said the cities and villages, buildings and historical monuments were destroyed.
Moreover, 65 out of 67 mosques were destroyed by the Armenians during the occupation. Even the graveyards were desecrated, destroyed, and looted.
